Monday, March 4, 2013

Comparing Urban Districts: Special Populations 2012-13

Last year, we compared Massachusetts'ten Commissioner's Districtsin a number of areas including MCAS proficiency rates, average number of absences, and graduation rates. Here is a comparison of these districts in terms of their special populations using the most recent data from the 2012-13 school year.

*FLnE = First Language not English

*LEP = Limited English Proficiency

*SPED = Special Education

Low Income

FLnE*

LEP*

SPED*

Massachusetts

37.0%

17.3%

7.7%

17.0%

Boston

71.7%

45.4%

30.7%

19.2%

Brockton

77.1%

35.4%

19.8%

13.2%

Fall River

77.9%

22.0%

7.1%

22.4%

Holyoke

84.7%

53.3%

26.7%

25.4%

Lawrence

84.9%

72.5%

24.5%

21.1%

Lowell

75.0%

41.7%

31.3%

15.3%

Lynn

82.6%

54.2%

17.5%

16.4%

New Bedford

73.4%

21.6%

4.6%

22.2%

Springfield

87.5%

26.1%

16.9%

19.2%

Worcester

73.1%

44.0%

34.3%

20.7%

Of these districts, Springfield has the highest percentage of low income students.

Lawrence has thehighest percentage of First Language not English students.

Worcester has the highest percentage of Limited English proficiency.

Holyoke has the highest percentage of Special Education students.

In previous posts, we compared the graduation and drop out rates of these districts as well as their MCAS proficiency rates.

Lowell had the lowest dropout rate among these districts in 2012 (3.8%)

Brockton had the highest graduation rate in 2012 (74.5%)

Worcester had the highest English Language Arts/Reading proficiency rate in 2012 (51%)